The 2015 Ballard Poetry Prize collection is out -- Children Born on the Wrong Side of the River

We are thrilled to announce the official release of our newest prize-winning poetry collection, Sarah McCartt-Jackson's Children Born on the Wrong Side of the River.

Larry D. Thomas, former Texas Poet Laureate and member of the Texas Institute of Letters, judged the contest and found the collection both realistically and luminously depicted. "The brutality of life is brilliantly counterpointed by the elegance of lyrical diction," Thomas said. "It's a memorable collection."

The poems form a narrative about Ora, a woman living a hard existence, who works through the loss of her children, a grief that McCartt-Jackson calls, "unending but not life-ending."

McCartt-Jackson, who is the current poet-in-residence for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, recognizes that a lot of people don't read poetry. "I knew I wanted to make a collection with a narrative arc to show readers, even non-readers of poetry, that reading a collection of poems can be equivalent to--or even better--than reading a novel."

The book is available in both paperback and ebook form at the following retailers and bookstores:

Amazon
Powell's Bookstore
Barnes & Noble
iTunes
Google Play
Kobo

My Big Brother's Birthday is here -- in hardcover!

Something we'd wanted to do for a long time was to introduce some of our early works in hardcover editions. Today, we released one of our treasured titles: My Big Brother's Birthday by John J Asher.

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Powell's
iBooks version

The book has always been available in electronic form, but for this release, we are introducing a new Kindle version made especially for tablets! It has pop up text and all the features you'd expect from a modern children's title.


Here's a little more about the book:

Why can't it be MY birthday?

Little brother is sure everyone at the big-kid birthday party will push him out of the way and gobble up all the treats. If only it were HIS birthday instead!

But just when he can't feel any worse, an unexpected turn means that his big brother's birthday just might end up being the best day of all!

Written and illustrated by long-time children's artist John J. Asher, My Big Brother's Birthday is the perfect reading for younger children who may be feeling left out on a sibling's big day.

Purchase the hardcover and get the ebook for free through Kindle's Matchbook program. You can read this book both traditionally and on the go!

Our Romance Superbundle has gone live!

Today we are very pleased to announce the release day for a special project -- a boxed set of seven full-length romance novels centering around first love.

These types of ebook bundles have become popular, and we are thrilled to have three New York Times bestselling authors and one USA Today bestselling author in this one.

Kindle - http://bit.ly/First-Love-Zon

Special limited-time boxed set of SEVEN first-love romances by New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors.
 
This superbundle of new adult romances includes over TWO THOUSAND print pages about young couples risking everything for that one perfect love.

EXCLUSIVE scenes and epilogues by five of the authors can ONLY be found in this bundle.
 
RANDOM ACTS OF TRUST by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julia Kent — Sam blew it with Amy four years ago, but when they reconnect at one of Sam’s gigs, their explosive reunion will either rip open old wounds, or help them forget their painful past.
Special EXCLUSIVE SCENE featuring Amy and Sam is available ONLY in this bundle.
 
BLUE ROSES by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mimi Strong — In this hilarious romantic comedy, a gruff motorcycle repair shop owner tries to win the heart of a jaded florist, despite all the times she’s sent apology flowers to his ex-girlfriends.

HEARTBITTEN by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Aubrey Rose — A shy grad student studying blood cancer falls for a billionaire playboy — until she discovers he is a vampire.
Special EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEEK of Bloodstricken is available ONLY in this bundle.

LOST by bestselling author Nadia Simonenko — Maria's terrifying past haunts her until she meets a kindred spirit in Owen, a fellow college student with secrets of his own. Will they find their way forward together or will their troubled pasts consume them both? 
 
FOREVER INNOCENT by USA Today bestselling author Deanna Roy — When the death of young couple’s seven-day-old baby tears them apart, only the love they’ve nurtured since they were children can possibly bring them back together.
Special EXCLUSIVE scene featuring Gavin and Corabelle is available ONLY in this bundle.
 
UNCAGED LOVE by author JJ Knight, from the bestselling series with over 1000 five-star reviews — An MMA fighter living in the shadow of his pro boxing father begins training a young woman with powerful raw talent, sparking a love affair that could jeopardize them both.
Special EXCLUSIVE scene featuring Colt’s reaction to Jo jumping from his father’s limo available ONLY in this bundle.
 
NO ONE’S ANGEL by bestselling author Kelly Walker — When Arion’s long-lost online gaming partner unexpectedly shows up shivering and frightened on his doorstep, the pair must confront her past to have any hope for a future.
Special EXCLUSIVE scene with Angel and Arion available ONLY in this bundle.

The Adventure Collection features SIX amazing books for middle grade readers

We love boxed sets, and they've been hugely popular in ebook format in adult genre fiction. We looked around and didn't see much of anything for middle grade readers!


So now The Adventure Collection is here!
The set is just 99 cents right now, but it won't be for long. Preorders are guaranteed at that price.

How to Get It

If you want it TODAY, pick it up on iBooks, where it was released early for a special promotion.
iBooks - http://bit.ly/Adventure-iTunes

You can PREORDER it everywhere else.
It will automatically arrive on your devices on Oct. 7.

Kindle - http://bit.ly/Adventure-Zon
BN - http://bit.ly/Adventure-BN
Kobo - http://bit.ly/Adventure-Kobo

About the Collection

The Adventure Collection includes SIX action-packed novels written especially for readers aged nine to twelve. With over one thousand pages of magic, danger, horses, and family secrets, third to eighth graders will find plenty to read and love from these bestselling authors.

THE GENIE’S GIFT by Chris Eboch — Thirteen-year-old Anise braves a sorcerer, a sea monster, and a host of challenges to seek a Genie who can give her the power she needs to change her future.

PRISCILLA THE GREAT by Sybil Nelson — An ordinary seventh grader must save her family from genetically enhanced assassins and bring down an organization that turns children into killing machines.

JINNIE WISHMAKER by DD Roy — Eleven-year-old Jinnie discovers she can grant any living thing its one true wish, only to have her power stolen by magic thieves.

OPERATION GOLDEN LLAMA by Sam Bond — Five cousins navigate the Peruvian jungle, lost cities, kidnappers and llamas while searching for ancient gold and a mysterious grandma.

CODE: ELEPHANTS ON THE MOON by Jennifer Bohnhoff — During the fight against the occupying German army in World War II, a French village girl begins to understand dark family secrets and the coded message behind a radio announcement that there are elephants on the moon.

ANGELS CLUB by Courtney Vail and Sandra J. Howell — Eleven-year-old Jacinda finds refuge from school bullies with Angel, a scrawny rescue horse she is determined to keep from being sold.

Deanna Roy makes the USA Today Bestseller List

We wanted to congratulate Deanna Roy, author of Forever Innocent, Forever Loved, and Baby Dust for making the USA Today Bestseller List in January.

Deanna published her first novel with Casey Shay Press in 2011.

 Her next novel, Forever Sheltered, will come out in August 2014. She will be attending the Romantic Times Convention in New Orleans in May and the Romance Writers of America Convention in San Antonio in August.

Cover Reveal for our 2013 Poetry Winner Seven Times to Leave

We're deep into March, which means it's almost time for the release of our newest poetry prize winner!

This year, poet Jeannette Angell won the Mary Ballard Poetry Prize, judged by renowned poet and professor Fred Marchant.

We are pleased to reveal the cover to Angell's new chapbook, Seven Times to Leave.

Isn't it a beauty?

Angell's poetry focuses on the subject of domestic violence. Here is an excerpt of one of her poems:

He had been so perfect.
 
Your rebellion was small, a donation here, a token purchase
there, you were testing the
 
waters, seeing how far you could go. He showed you, and left
you bruised and crying on a floor that someone could eat off
of. While I, the
 
wild-child, the feminist, the one who could never quite put
her world together -- I became your refuge, and took you to
dinner at a place neither of us could
 
afford, just to show you we could



 



Release day for Stella & Dane

We are thrilled to announce the publication of our first romance novel, Stella & Dane: A Honky Tonk Romance by Deanna Roy.

While we publish books for women's journeys, we hadn't really intended to move into romance. But the response to Baby Dust was incredible, and Deanna got so many readers writing her about the characters Stella and Dane from that book that she decided to write the backstory of their relationship.

We feel the book strikes a balance between the literary fiction we take pride in and the romantic stories we know many readers enjoy. The book has taken off very swiftly on the Kindle and the response has been amazing--many readers write that they finished the book in one day!

The Kindle version is already released, and the paperbacks are moving through the distribution chain as we speak and should start hitting Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Powell's and other outlets by the first week of August.

Here is information on the book:

Stella is one step from leaving her honky tonk town when bad-boy Dane roars down Main Street on his prized Harley-Davidson. Their dangerous romance keeps the locals talking, but when Dane is arrested after a deadly bar fight, the couple discovers their love runs deeper than their reputations.

Fans of “Baby Dust” will enjoy reading the backstory of their favorite characters in an edgy romance that moves from Stella’s small town bordering the Ozarks to the famous Missouri State Penitentiary, proving that the best kind of love is the one that endures.

“Deanna Roy has created a tuck-at-your-heart yet edgy nontraditional romance. The star-crossed lovers are destined for a host of insurmountable problems in a rural Missouri town where one of them is home-grown, and the other an intruder viewed with suspicion.”

--Loretta Giacoletto, author of Free Danner

“By turns heart-rending and uplifting, Stella and Dane is a spellbinding testimony of love's power to carry us through the hardships of life.”

--Amber Sweetapple, author of Jack and Djinn

Our newest picture book release -- My Big Brother's Birthday by John J. Asher

As more e-book platforms embrace the picture book, we've decided to begin releasing some titles aimed specifically at the iPad and iPhone market. They will also move to the Kindle Fire when the new e-reader is released.

We're very excited about our newest e-book title, My Big Brother's Birthday. John J. Asher is the easier-to-Google pen name for long-time children's illustrator John Jones. He's done illustration work for every major publishing house over his career, and we are thrilled to produce his debut writer/illustrator picture book! Learn more about him on his own web site.

My Big Brother's Birthday is perfect for the harried mom, trying to prepare for an older child's party with a younger child underfoot. Sit them down with your iPhone or iPad and pick up this lovely $2.99 title so they know they aren't being left out on their sibling's big day!

Download a PDF of sample pages HERE.

Find it on the iTunes iBook store by clicking HERE.

The cover for Baby Dust is here!

We can finally reveal the cover of our next release, Baby Dust: A Novel about Miscarriage and Pregnancy Loss.

The novel will be released in October 2011 during Pregnancy Loss Remembrance Month. We will be hosting several events on Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, which is October 15th, including a candle lighting during the International Wave of Light, a book reading, and possibly a Walk to Remember. Plans will be developing over at www.pregnancyloss.info in the coming months.

Back cover copy for the book:

The five women sitting in the circle of chairs all had great dreams of motherhood.

Then their babies died.

Melinda joins the support group after she is forced to leave her miscarried fetus in a trash can rather than inconvenience her power-lawyer husband on a business trip. There she meets Dot, who believes the wrath of God caused the baby conceived in an extra-marital affair to grow without a brain.

They are joined by seventeen-year-old Tina, who is ejected from the high school for pregnant teens when her premature baby lives only a few hours.

Their friend Janet’s miscarriage has evolved into uterine cancer. And Stella, who leads the group, must face the old choices that cost her a family of her own.

Based on the stories of dozens of real survivors, Baby Dust is a moving tribute to the strength of mothers who must endure this most impossible loss.

Kids Show Kids How to Make Balloon Animals in Japan

Japan has picked up Kids Show Kids How to Make Balloon Animals and wow! It skyrocketed to number #791 in overall ranking on Amazon Japan.

Sale on the Angel book

Casey Shay Press has made its memorial book a flat $10 and its Angel bumper sticker $1 from now through Oct. 15. US Shipping is only $3.99 for both, but they ship anywhere. Go get yours!

See the book in this video (click on it to see it full screen).



Remember to light your candles at 7 p.m!

In the Company of Angels Release Day

I'm caught up in my tale, finally, and the day we put out the book Casey Shay Press was created to make has finally arrived.

To help pay for the print run, we did preorders of the book. We got about 1/3 of the cost covered before they arrived.

Of course the shipment had problems. New laws on importing books meant they got held up in customs for a couple weeks until the broker and I could get everything straight. This also meant the books that were preordered through the press didn't make it out in time for Christmas, which I had hoped for.

I sent the first shipment to Amazon and they just immediately began selling them rather than waiting for release day. But I was okay with that. The baby was here! Really here!

The trailer was shared so much during Pregnancy Loss Remembrance Month. I remember watching the stats and thinking--really? That many people?

I haven't even posted it. Here it is!